NEW DELHI, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Russian Direct Investment Fund
(RDIF), a sovereign wealth fund, and Indian lender State Bank of
India will jointly invest up to $2 billion to promote
trade and economic cooperation projects, the Russian fund said
in a statement on Monday.

The agreement, under which the two sides would invest up to
$1 billion each, came as Russian President Vladimir Putin
visited India on Monday.

RDIF said the two firms will work together to facilitate
access to long-term capital in Russia and India and promote
mutual investments between the two countries.

The firms will invest in infrastructure development and
facilities to extract and process natural resources, it added.

Putin is on his first trip to India since he started a new
Kremlin six-year term in May. His trip is widely seen as a
chance to reaffirm Russia's interest in India, long a regional
ally and now a partner in the BRICS group of emerging market
nations.

Russia is eyeing big defence deals from a country that plans
to spend about $100 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade
its largely Soviet-era military equipment.

Russian defence industry sources said the visit could
produce deals on the sale of fighter jets and aircraft engines
worth more than $7.5 billion.
(Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk; Writing by Rajesh Singh Kumar;
Editing by John Chalmers)